Echoes of a Distant Memory
by Kallie Bryant
Summary: Companion to "Written in the Stars". How do you get away when everything keeps pulling you back?
1. Chapter 1

"I've heard that Carth Onasi is on this ship. Have you read his service record?"

Raye looked up from the datapad in her hands, watching as Bastila paced.

"Yes, I've read it." Not that she'd needed to. She knew who the man was.

"Good. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - you've probably read the records for everyone on this ship."

"I had GT download them from the Council archives before we left."

Bastila sighed. The little hover-droid fluttering around Raye's shoulders trilled a decidedly happy little tune, and she couldn't help feeling that it was proud of having broken into the archives without permission.

But that was silly. She knew that droids didn't feel pride. They didn't feel anything.

"You really should be careful who you say things like that to, Raye."

"It's just us in here, 'Tila. You gonna turn me in?"

"Don't call me that. And you know I would never. But what if someone had walked in?"

"Just walked into our private quarters? Yeah, that's likely." Raye grinned. "So, have you seen Akanni yet? How's she seem to you?"

"I only saw her in passing. She seems alright, from what I could tell. Her mind's in the right place. Focused, even if she doesn't think she wants to be here. She'll come around."

Bastila stood then and moved to the door.

"I must go. I should be on the bridge now. I'll talk to you tonight."

With that she was gone. Raye laid back on her bed, playing with the lightsaber in her hands. She lay there for a few minutes, then suddenly pushed herself to her feet. She didn't really have anything to do - she wasn't part of the ship's crew, only there as part of Bastila's entourage.

But that didn't mean she was going to just sit around in her quarters all the time.

Leaving the room, she took the opposite corridor of what Bastila had. She didn't really know where she was going, didn't have a set destination in mind, but she knew she had to get out of the room before she went stir crazy.

She didn't get far, however, before she turned a corner and walked right into an orange jacket.

The man before her stumbled back, apologies flowing before he'd even gotten a look at her. For her part, Raye just stared for a moment, almost in shock at the sight of the man before her. Sure, she knew he was on the ship, but that didn't mean she'd actually expected to see him. In fact, she'd been doing everything she could to avoid him.

"I'm sorry, Miss, I didn't see you."

"It's my fault." Raye insisted, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Both fell silent for a moment, unsure what to say next, when suddenly the man stuck his hand out. "I'm Carth Onasi. I don't believe we've met."

Raye hesitated for only the briefest of moments before taking the man's hand.

"Raye-Um, I mean... Desiraye. Desiraye Toral."

Carth shook her hand once, firmly. Raye was already planning her quick-but-polite escape when he opened his mouth to speak.

And that's when the claxons rang out.


	2. Chapter 2

Both Carth and Raye looked up as the alarms sounded.

"I've got to get to the bridge!" Carth turned away.

"I'll come with you - I've got to find Bastila."

Gone were thoughts of avoiding Carth, of finding something to occupy her time until Bastila got back. Now all that mattered was finding Bastila, making sure she was safe. That was the only important thing.

"We need to make sure Bastila gets to an escape pod." She said as she followed him. "It's my job to make sure she's safe."

GT kept close behind Raye, screaming a high pitched whine that somehow managed to be drowned out with all the noise surrounding them.

"It's all our jobs," Carth answered. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

Raye said nothing further as the two turned a corner and ran into three Sith soldiers.

"Down you go!"

Carth drew his blaster and fired at them, while Raye threw her lightsaber. It hit two of them but not the third. Still, that made their battle much easier, and they finished it quickly.

The bridge was at the end of the corridor. They just had to make it another few feet and they'd find Bastila. As they approached the door, Raye threw it open with the Force, not wanting to wait for it to open on its own.

As expected, they found Bastila inside, along with a couple other Jedi.

"Raye! Thank the Force you're alright!"

Half the bridge crew was dead. The other half ran through the corridor Carth and Raye had just come from, preparing to defend Bastila. Carth ran to the communications terminal and contacted the rest of the crew on their communicators.

"This is Carth Onasi." He began, struggling to stay calm. "The Sith are threatening to overrun our position. We can't hold out long against their firepower. All hands to the bridge!"

The order came too late. The Sith were quickly overwhelming the soldiers and making their way ever closer to the bridge.

"Bastila, you need to get out of here!" Carth instructed. "Get to the escape pods."

The Jedi nodded and looked to Raye.

"Come, we must leave here quickly. We must get to the escape pods."

Bastila all but dragged her out of the room, Carth and the other Jedi following along behind.

"Nahi and Luke are dead," She reported as they ran. "And so are most of the bridge crew."

Raye felt a twinge of sadness at the news. She hadn't known Luke well, but Nahi was a close friend of hers.

"Damn these Sith..." She muttered. "Attacking us here, practically in the middle of nowhere - it's like they knew we'd be here."

No one liked the sound of that. Her words suggested that there was a spy among them, or that perhaps the Sith had some way of tracking their ship. Either was was bad news.

They were ambushed by more Sith soldiers mere yards from the escape pods. The two Jedi who'd been following left to fight, urging Bastila and Raye to keep going. Raye wanted to stay and fight, but Carth all but pushed her down the corridor.

"Now's not the time to be all heroic and die," He said, "The Sith have practically taken over the ship - there's nothing left for you to do here."

"He's right, Raye. We must leave now. If we don't I fear we will all be killed."

Raye looked to Bastila.

"But what about Akanni? She's still back there somewhere! We can't just leave her!"

"She could be dead already."

Raye's eyes narrowed at Bastila's cold words, but she had little time to dispute them. They'd finally reached the escape pods, and quickly urged Bastila into one. As soon as her pod was away, Carth turned to Raye.

"There's another pod down there at the end. Go get in."

"What? No, I'm not leaving yet. I can't abandon everyone that might still be alive!"

"If you stay, there's every possibility that you could die." Carth said simply. "And I won't lost another Jedi. Not on my watch. Now get in the pod."

Raye still wouldn't go. Running out of options, Carth looked to GT. The little droid didn't seem to approve of Carth's idea, but it was eager for it's master to get into a pod, so it didn't question the order it had just been given.

Sneaking up behind Raye, GT zapped her in the back of the neck with a low-level stun blast. Carth caught her as she collapsed and carefully put her into a pod. GT followed, and once they were both secured, Carth ejected the pod.

Then he turned to the communications console in the pod bay to check lifesigns and see who was left. The lifesigns were slowing dwindling, until there was only one left. It was the woman Raye had been worried about, Akanni Dain. Carth had no idea why she was so important to Raye, but she was still out there somewhere, and he'd never left a man behind.

"This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator..."


End file.
